PIN Hacking vs PinClicks
Credit where it is due: PinClicks made Pinterest keyword research a thing people actually do.
Before it, most of us were typing into the Pinterest search bar and writing down the autocomplete by hand. It is a genuinely good lookup tool, it is fairly priced, and if what you need is a search box and a list, it does that well.
Here is the honest difference. PinClicks stops at the data. PIN Hacking runs the same kind of research and then finishes the job, so what comes out is a content plan and the copy to publish, not a screen you still have to interpret. Both cost $29 to start. The question is what you want to be holding at the end of the session.
Who wins which job
| The job you are trying to do | PinClicks | PIN Hacking |
|---|---|---|
| Look up search demand for a phrase | Yes, fast and good at it | Yes |
| Track your keyword rankings over time | Yes, 25 on Pin Pro and 5,000 on Pin Plus | Yes |
| Get alerted when Pinterest changes its search suggestions | Yes | No |
| Research another account's pins | Yes, Account Explorer | No |
| Group keywords into clusters that compound | No | Yes, cluster maps tracked per client over time |
| Get the finished title and description to paste | Basic generation | Yes, linted and ready to publish |
| Get board names Pinterest search already trusts | No | Yes |
| See which of your own pages Pinterest is ignoring | No | Yes, the Gap report via Google Analytics |
| Know which pins to stop making | No | Yes, What's Working |
| Fix a pin that stalled | No | Yes, Plateau Rewrite |
| Official read-only Pinterest API connection | Not stated | Yes, approved partner |
| Free tools with no signup | No | Yes, three of them |
| Entry price | $29 a month, $249 a year | $29 a month, $296 a year |
PinClicks pricing and features checked 16 August 2026.
Where the numbers come from
PIN Hacking connects to your Pinterest account through Pinterest's approved API. Read-only. Your own data, nothing posted, edited or deleted, and you can disconnect whenever you want.
PinClicks states on its own site that it is "not affiliated with Pinterest", it does not appear in Pinterest's partner directory, and it does not publish where its numbers come from.
That may not matter to you. But if you are making content decisions for a business off those numbers, knowing whether they came through an official connection is a fair thing to want to know.
Your own traffic is half the answer
Keyword tools tell you what the world searches for. They cannot tell you what your site already earns, because they have never seen it.
PIN Hacking connects to your Google Analytics and runs the Pinterest Gap report: the pages that already bring you traffic that Pinterest has not picked up yet. That list is the highest-leverage pinning plan you can have, because every page on it is already proven to hold an audience. You are not gambling on a new topic, you are pointing Pinterest at something that already works.
PinClicks has no Google Analytics connection, so this comparison cannot be run there at all.
Research is not the deliverable
A keyword list is a middle step. You still have to turn "fall porch decor ideas" into a title under 100 characters with the phrase inside the first 40, a description that front-loads the keyword in the first 50, a board that Pinterest's taxonomy already trusts, and an angle you have not used twice this month.
That is the part that eats the afternoon. PIN Hacking does that part. You get finished copy with a green, yellow and red linter showing you why it will rank before you publish, board names checked against Pinterest's real category tree, and Plateau Rewrite for pins that stalled, which gives you a diagnosis plus three rewrites on fresh angles.
Where PinClicks wins
A comparison page that claims a clean sweep is not worth reading, so here is where they are the better buy.
Rank tracking at their scale
Pin Plus tracks up to 5,000 keyword rankings and alerts you when Pinterest changes its search suggestions. If watching position movement across a keyword set that large is central to how you work, that is the specific job they are built for.
Account research
Their Account Explorer digs into other people's pins. We are pointed at your account, not at other people's.
The cheaper annual
$249 a year against our $296. It is not a huge gap, but it is in their favor and pretending otherwise would be silly.
Questions people ask before choosing
Is PIN Hacking a PinClicks alternative?+
Yes, and unlike our Tailwind comparison this one is a real head to head. Both start at $29 a month and both do Pinterest keyword research. The difference is where each one stops: PinClicks leaves you with the data to interpret, we carry it through to a content plan and the finished title, description and board name you can publish.
Where does each tool get its Pinterest data?+
PIN Hacking connects through Pinterest's approved API with a read-only connection to your own account. PinClicks states on its site that it is not affiliated with Pinterest and does not publish where its data comes from.
Can I use both?+
You can, and if large-scale rank tracking matters to you it is a reasonable pairing. Most people find one of the two covers what they actually do week to week.
Which is better for bloggers?+
If you are an ad-monetized blogger, the Gap report is usually the deciding factor. It reads your Google Analytics and tells you which of your existing high-traffic posts Pinterest has never picked up, which is the fastest content you can pin because it is already proven.
Do I need to connect my Pinterest account?+
Not to start. The free tools need no account at all, and the Keyword Strategist and Pin Generator work without a connection. Connecting Pinterest adds live search volume and unlocks What's Working and Plateau Rewrite.
Same $29 either way
Pick PinClicks if you want a fast lookup tool and large-scale rank tracking, and you are comfortable writing the pin copy yourself.
Pick PIN Hacking if you want to finish the job in one sitting: research, finished words, board names, and a read on what is already working.
Run our free keyword generator on your own niche first. No signup, and it will show you which shape of answer you actually want.